Shinjae Chung, PhD — Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Chronobiology Program – Perelman School of Medicine/University of Pennsylvania — will be visiting WSU Spokane for the TMP Seminar Series. Her seminar entitled “Neural circuits underlying sleep and emotional regulation” will be in person in the Spokane Center for Clinical Research and Simulation, room 250 and through Zoom on Tuesday, Jan. 10, noon–1 p.m.
Good quality sleep is essential for our well-being. Sleep disturbances can therefore negatively impact our mental and physical health. We show that acute psychosocial stress in mice disrupts sleep, by causing frequent arousals, disrupting slow (~minute) oscillations in the electroencephalogram and suppressing REMs. These changes were reflected in frequent activation of noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus (LC-NE) during NREMs. Activating LC-NE neurons disrupted the sleep quality similar to stress, while inhibiting them after stress improved sleep partially through their projections to the preoptic area, a crucial sleep center. Our study reveals that LC-NE neurons and their interactions with hypothalamic sleep neurons orchestrate the sleep microarchitecture and play a crucial role in mediating the negative impact of stress on sleep.
We look forward to you joining us in person (SCRS 250) or through Zoom!
Questions/Zoom link? Contact Michelle Sanchez at michelle.r.sanchez@wsu.edu.
